Britain is to develop new air defence weapons alongside the EU's four biggest military powers, deepening ties with the European defence sector. The project will invite manufacturers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Poland to submit plans to build low-cost missiles and autonomous drones. The allies are pledging a speedy process to build the weapons together, inspired by Ukraine's development of cheap drones to counter attacks from Russia.
Five European nations France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy (the E5 nations) have launched a new programme to develop low-cost air defence systems and autonomous drones. Announced on Friday, the initiative leverages Ukrainian expertise from four years of war against Russia, forming part of wider European efforts to bolster border security, including a proposed "drone wall" to detect and intercept drones violating airspace. Both Moscow and Kyiv possess advanced drone warfare capabilities, with battlefield innovations from the conflict reshaping modern tactics.
We will move to elections when all the necessary security guarantees are in place, the Ukrainian president told reporters on Wednesday in a voice note. I have said it's very simple to do: establish a ceasefire, and there will be elections. He also said that if Russia agreed, it might be possible to end hostilities by summer.
Sometimes you want to speak frankly, but the situation does not allow it. For example, until this morning we had several air defense systems without missiles. Today I can say this openly, because today I have these missiles. Continuous missile packages are needed. Today, thank God, early this morning we received a serious package. It is now in Ukraine, and I can talk about it.
EU commissioners are meeting today for a security college discussion on defence and security issues, where they will be joined by the secretary general of Nato, Mark Rutte. Their meeting comes amid growing concerns about drones appearing in European airspace, causing continuing disruption in parts of the Nordics. It remains unconfirmed who or what is behind them, but still prompted a strong reaction in the region.
It's one of the reasons why we're significantly increasing our Defence Forces capabilities. We should never fool ourselves or convince ourselves that Ireland is immune from such attack," he said, adding that it is important the government invests in radar capability. "I like to think of it as a bit of a burglar alarm type of system that gives us a greater understanding and warning as to what's happening in our skies and that's why I think it's a really sensible and a prudent time to invest in radar.
Ukraine says it will continue targeting Russian infrastructure delivering troops, fuel and ammunition to the front lines. Russia and Ukraine have been engaging in major aerial battles, targeting energy and transportation infrastructure, as Moscow presses its fierce ground assault in the Ukrainian east in the war's fourth year and tests a type of hypersonic weapon. Russia's Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday that its air defences shot down 361 drones, four guided aerial bombs, and rockets from a US-made high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) overnight.
Overnight two drones entered Polish airspace, they were not shot down as the posed no danger, the Armed Forces Operational Commander Maciej Klisz said on Thursday. Poland's General Staff Chief Wieslaw Kukula said the drones then left Polish airspace and caused no damage. Overnight Russia launched another deadly attack in western and central Ukraine which saw the two drones enter Poland's territory.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for secondary sanctions aimed at disrupting Russia's war in Ukraine after holding the 25th Franco-German Council of Ministers, with US President Donald Trump's diplomatic push yet to bring the three-and-a-half-year war to an end. The leaders of Europe's two biggest economies on Friday agreed to accelerate measures targeting Russia's war machine, including companies from third countries that support Russia's war, according to a joint statement after the meeting in the southern French port city of Toulon.
